MISSIONARY INTENTION - Pope's Missionary Intention for July 2010: “That Christians may strive to offer everywhere, but especially in great urban centers, an effective contribution to the promotion of education, justice, solidarity and peace.” Commentary.

Monday, 28 June 2010

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The contemporary world lives in constant mutation. The economic phenomena, industrialization, the technological revolution, have produced significant changes in social structures, both on an individual and family level. Great migrations are being seen, causing millions of human beings to converge in major urban establishments whose outskirts are often marked by poverty and a lack of basic structures. Paradoxically, even in urban areas characterized by a strong economy, one encounters individualism and and most painful solitude. Interpersonal relationships are dehumanized, becoming cold and impersonal.
All this really needs to be evangelized! The major cities are becoming increasingly cosmopolitan and an aggregate of different races, different cultures. In many cities of ancient Christian tradition there is no longer a Christian social situation based on Gospel values. In some way, through globalization, every city and every people has become an image of the world with its many different realities, diverse cultures, and great diversity of religious faiths.
The disciples of Christ must feel the sweet duty of presenting the Gospel in the social reality of all environments and all places. Where Christian roots are disappearing, we should once again, with conviction and strength, present the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our contemporaries are particularly sensitive to certain values such as solidarity and peace. The Gospel has always been a promoter of these values, because ultimately they derive from the love of God which has been given to us in Christ. Jesus Christ divested Himself of His rank and became one of us through the Incarnation, taking on our poverty to make us partakers of His divine life. He is our peace.
Facing the challenges of our time, the Holy Father calls us to help create culture, to bear witness to justice. Culture manifests itself in thought, customs, art, music, in celebrations. It derives from the fundamental values of society. The Gospel should contribute to introducing values that characterize true humanity, those that elevate man, into society so that man can make a gift of self.
In order for there to be a true communion among men, physical proximity is not enough. We need a binding force, a creator of communion. As Pope Benedict XVI has pointed out, "the great European and American cities are becoming ever more cosmopolitan, but they often lack this nourishment that can make the differences become a reciprocal enrichment rather than a cause for division or conflict. The civilization of love is 'co-existence,' that is, respectful, peaceful and joyful co-existence of differences in the name of a common goal, which Bl. Pope John XXIII founded on the four pillars of love, truth, freedom and justice." (Speech at the end of the Holy Rosary with University Students, March 1, 2008). Our mission is to establish these pillars with the power of the Gospel, so that they may be able to sustain a world which, in many ways, is on the verge of collapse. (Agenzia Fides 28/06/2010)


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